Atari ST games by genre

Sunday, July 26, 2015

Team

Team is a soccer game released late in the Atari ST's life by a dedicated company called Impact Software in 1995. Specifically developed for the Atari STe, it makes full use of the enhanced hardware often ignored by other commercial gaming companies: extra colours, 50fps hardware scrolling, Blitter and DMA audio. Wow!! O_o

If I'm honest, I feel a little unqualified to review Team because I'm not a soccer fan. From what I played, I liked. I'm hardly a new convert but I did enjoy running around the pitch and having a good kick about - great fun! However, not knowing the game's technicalities stops me from progressing further. Interestingly, there is a friendly mode that displays off much of the game's styles and playability, like passing, tactics, and tackles.

It's difficult to see in the animation but overscan is active and drastically increases the playable area. Strangely, the player sprites are quite small but all movements are extremely fast and fluent at a smooth 50fps. Sound effects are sparse, which is odd for a game being played in a stadium of thousands of people. Thankfully, the music is excellent with stereo tracker playback routines developed by a familiar name from within the Atari ST demoscene - GRIFF - Electronic Images!

Overall, I had lots of fun with Team which shocked me because I hate soccer! Whether it's better than Kick Off or Sensible Soccer, I couldn't say but I certainly enjoyed it so give Team a chance and take it for a kickabout.